Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-01-03-.35 - COOPERATION IN CHILD SUPPORT ACTIVITIES
Cooperation in obtaining support and establishing paternity is a condition of AFDC eligibility for each applicant/recipient unless good cause for refusal to cooperate is established in accordance with criteria set out below. The determination of whether a client has refused to cooperate and when good cause exists for a waiver of the cooperation requirement is an eligibility function.
(1) Cooperation
Requirements. Each A/R is required to cooperate by engaging in any activity or
providing information necessary for child support enforcement, including but
not limited to the following :
(a) Assisting
in identifying and locating the absent parent of each child in the aid
group;
(b) Assisting in the
establishment of paternity for each AFDC child for whom this service is
appropriate;
(c) Assisting in
obtaining support for each member of the aid group;
(d) Appearing for scheduled interviews as
necessary to provide relevant verbal or written information or documentary
evidence;
(e) Appearing as a
witness in court or other hearings or proceedings if necessary;
(f) Providing information, or attesting to
lack of information, under penalty of perjury;
(g) After assigning support rights, turning
over to DHS any and all support payments which are covered by the assignment
and are received directly by the A/R either from the absent parent or through a
court or other third party.
(2) Notice to the Applicant/Recipient. At
application, a written and verbal explanation of the requirement for
cooperation with child support activities and the penalties for refusal to
cooperate will be provided in addition to information regarding the client's
right to claim good cause for refusal to cooperate. If the client claims good
cause for non-cooperation or requests further clarification, he/she shall be
given a further written notice describing the circumstances and evidence
necessary for a good cause determination.
(a)
Acknowledge of Notice.
1. The client's
signature acknowledges that he/she understands:
(i) that support rights are assigned to the
state;
(ii) any support payments
received by the client after approval of the AFDC grant must be turned over to
DHS; and
(iii) how to forward such
payments to DHS.
2. The
good cause notice will be completed, signed, and dated only if the client
actually claims good cause.
(3) Refusal to Cooperate.
(a) It is the responsibility of the
Department to determine if a client has failed or refused to
cooperate.
(b) Reasonable judgment
will be exercised in determining whether there has been willful non-cooperation
or extenuating circumstances.
(c)
If the client has refused to cooperate, the Department will apply the sanctions
to the case (unless there is good cause for the lack of cooperation) and notify
the client of the action.
(d)
Failure to cooperate (without good cause) and the resultant application of
sanctions to the case do not preclude support actions on the case by the IV-D
agency as long as the assignment is in effect.
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.